Perfect Pours: Sample Autumn in a Glass with Burlington Brew Tours

Come autumn, there are countless options for feasting the eyes on Vermont's famous foliage. Visitors can spin their wheels down the Burlington Bike Path, hop aboard a Lake Champlain cruise ship or motor rural roads that wind through the Green Mountains.

So why would one get on a tour bus, seemingly the geekiest way to gawk at a city? Well, when it comes to Burlington Brew Tours, the tour bus is anything but typical. On a 16-seat chariot dubbed Barley, the company has been ferrying local and long-distance beer lovers to frothy destinations for seven years.

Founder Chad Brodsky is a certified cicerone who enlisted the help of late brewing guru Greg Noonan to get his tours off the ground in 2009. Since then he's been introducing customers to Burlington's thriving craft beer scene, one that has earned acclaim everywhere from the New York Times to Draft magazine.

Matthew Thorsen

Burlington Brew Tours bus

Burlington Brew Tours has been letting the good times roll — literally. Beer aficionados see the city and sample its loveliest liquids without worrying about parking, driving, paying or calculating tips while getting (slightly) tipsy. The $80 to $130 price per person covers it all — including food — with stops, sustenance and suds varying by tour.

On the Classic Brew Tour, Barley hauls riders to four beer-centric stops around Burlington, concluding with a pizza-and-beer-pairing lunch. The Pub Crawl Brew Tour, meanwhile, visits two or three breweries along with some of the city's notable nightlife spots, including Nectar's, where there's a beer-and-food-pairing dinner. Finally, the Stowe Beer Tour hits up four breweries in the legendary ski town, with a gourmet pairing lunch at Idletyme Brewing.

Whichever route you choose, Burlington Brew Tours retrieves passengers from and returns them to any Burlington or South Burlington location. Instead of a tour guide with a microphone, a savvy beer sommelier guides every step of the adventure.

"We don't just blindly drop people off," says Matt Taylor, a Vermont native who often oversees tours. "We're giving people an option for seeing all the great breweries in the area, while not having to drink and drive."

Matthew Thorsen

Vermont Pub & Brewery

A recent Classic tour began, as always, by the basement brew kettles at St. Paul Street's Vermont Pub & Brewery, opened by Noonan as the state's first brewpub in 1988. That may not mean much until you learn he had to lobby the legislature for three years to obtain a brewing license — the first one granted since Prohibition. Standing between silver tanks filled with lagers and ales, Taylor entertained his audience with other fun facts.

Hops were once considered a devil plant, he said: In medieval times, had a person consumed one and lived, they would have been burned at the stake for being a witch. Thankfully, that's no longer a concern, so when we ventured upstairs, the tour group happily sipped six different brews, from the Grand Slam Baseball (always brewed when the Boston Red Sox are playing) to the bourbon oak-aged stout — going from least to most bitter.

Courtesy of Foam Brewers

Foam Brewers

The next stop was Foam Brewers, Burlington's newest craft brewery, and arguably the one with the best view. Opened in April on Lake Street, it offers a pretty panorama of Lake Champlain along with pours ranging from the pine-and-citrus Lupi Fresh IPA to the fruity Built to Spill. One could easily linger here — Foam serves up gourmet charcuterie plates, weekly live music and other fun events.

Courtesy of Switchback

Switchback Brewing

But our tour continued, just 2.2 miles south to Switchback Brewing. On the bus, participants passed the time with lively banter and taking in more beer trivia from Taylor. At the Flynn Avenue brewery, a barkeep poured flights of four, which began with the signature Switchback Ale and ended with an Export Stout. A shiny, rainbow-colored tray made from an old Burton snowboard adds to the funky vibe here, as does the fact that dogs are allowed. (There are Switchback-steamed hot dogs, too, for $2.50 each.)

Corin Hirsch

A Folino's pizza

Finally it was time to roll down to Shelburne's Fiddlehead Brewing, passing the world-renowned Shelburne Museum and more views of Lake Champlain along the way. Fiddlehead is known for its hoppy growlers poured by brewmaster and owner Matty Cohen. The 64-ounce containers are perfect for bringing to a BYOB lunch at adjacent Folino's, a barnlike space that serves wood-fired pizzas and fresh salads. Frosted glasses are always on hand for Burlington Brew Tours travelers. That's a thoughtful gesture you'll remember — even if, after 15 or so samples, you forget a few minor details.

Tapping In

Vermont brewers make more beers than you could possibly taste on one tour. But if you're looking to expand your sampling another day, here are some other worthwhile breweries (and a cidery!) within an hour's drive of Burlington. Just be sure you have a designated driver — safety first!

Note: Beer aficionados also make pilgrimages to the revered Hill Farmstead Brewery, located in Greensboro, but it is at least an hour and a half from Burlington. If you make the trek, check hillfarmstead.com first for its hours and special events.

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